Les papillons

One of the biggest challenges for every photographer is selection - only show your best work. In particular on a website. Usually I attempt to do this, although it can be very difficult.

But for my butterfly pictures I allow myself an exception. I just had so much fun chasing them and collecting species, that I just cannot be strict. At least not now, maybe later.

So I created a new album under 'nature', with a lot of pics. Many are very pretty, some are there because I am so happy that I spotted the species.

Many of the images feature the Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus), as the one below. And this is for two good reasons; firstly because it is a pretty butterfly. Secondly because it will occasionally sit still - which is pretty handy if you want to photograph it.

Btw I found out that for this type of shots manual focus is far more reliable then autofocus. So if you are looking for a macro lens, get a second hand vintage manual focus model (I mainly use the older Pentax A-100 1:2.8 macro). For a new autofocus lens, make sure the manual focus ring is large and can be reached conveniently. And the viewfinder of the DSLR should be sufficient. Make sure the one you buy has a glass prism, not a mirrorboxthingy - they are dark.